Briar Mill

Built and operated by Briar Mill Ltd. Which became bankrupt and refloated as Briar Mill (1920) Ltd. Sometime in the mid-1950s it was occupied by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation and later Courtaulds Ltd. in 1964. It ceased all cotton production in 1988 when it was converted for warehousing and distribution of catalogue items by a company which was then known as J.D. Williams Ltd. The company also purchased neighbouring Lilac Mill and constructed a bridge to join Briar's second floor to Lilac's first floor. In the early 2000s (decade), operation of the mill transferred to Fulfillment Logistics, a division of J.D. Williams, who continue to use the complex for the same purpose. In the 1980s, Bolton steeplejack Fred Dibnah was paid £7000 to demolish Briar mill's chimney one brick at a time. His efforts and dare-devil methods are documented in the his autobiographic BBC TV series 'The Fred Dibnah Story.